Seamless continuity

"CCR Executive Director Says Guantanamo Leaks Must Be Met By Release of Obama Task Force Assessment" (Center for Constitutional Rights):

CONTACT: press@ccrjustice.org

April 25, 2011, New York – Today, Center for Constitutional Rights Executive Director Vince Warren issued the following statement in response to the leaks of government allegations against 750 Guantánamo detainees and the multiple news stories that accompanied the leaks:

The documents that have just been released again shed light on the Bush administration’s disarray and desperation and reaffirm that the primary goal of Guantánamo was always intelligence gathering and not keeping so-called dangerous men off the streets. They provide more public detail on the many innocent men at Guantánamo, many of whom remained and remain there long after the government knew they were innocent. The danger is that putting the outdated allegations in these documents out without proper context can lead to the assumption that many of the men are more dangerous than they turned out to be.

News organizations around the world have covered the leaks of allegations against men currently and formerly detained at Guantánamo, but the New York Times is most notable for its unfiltered recycling of out of date and long-discredited DOD claims and its sensationalizing of inflated risk assessments over revelations of abuses committed by the U.S. For example, the Times lists five Russian men as being recidivists when not even the DOD continues to include them since they were tortured on their return to Russia (as documented by Human Rights Watch). A Center for Constitutional Rights client, Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamuda bin Qumu, is also listed as a recidivist, when in fact he was jailed on his return to Libya and is now allegedly fighting with the U.S.-supported rebels, as is made clear in another article in the same paper. That the large print, “Released from Guantánamo, They Took Up Arms” headline is followed by a small print, “against various foes” does little to mitigate the inflammatory message.

These are only a few of the examples, but they amount to an irresponsible repetition of the scare stories that abet those forces seeking to legitimate the continued existence of Guantánamo and the scheme of detention without charge that the place was created to facilitate. Even the disclaimer included on the Times website has been watered down from its previous version: now, buried at the bottom of the About section of the Guantánamo Docket feature, it reads, “The documents contain the Defense Department’s assessments of the detainees, some of which have been challenged in federal court, and in some of the cases lower court judges have ruled against evidence presented by the government. Those cases have been appealed.” It fails to mention that some of the charges were dropped or withdrawn by the government itself, that a large number were overturned, and it presumes the existence of evidence when in may cases there was none. The coverage also continues the Times’ incomprehensible policy of refusing to use the word “torture” to describe what was done to the men at Guantanamo. Reading the coverage in the Times and Washington Post, one would never know that the majority of remaining detainees – ninety of the 172 left – had been cleared for release by the Interagency Task Force set up in 2009.

Like the Defense Department’s assessments of “recidivism,” the risk assessments in the files are based on patently unreliable information, much of it the product of other interrogations at Guantánamo. The files are years out of date and repeat inaccurate Bush administration allegations long since put to rest. The Obama administration must release immediately its own Task Force assessments and, at a minimum, make public the list of who has been approved for transfer, who has been designated for trial and who is designated for indefinite detention, so that foreign governments, the U.S. Congress and the public can get a more accurate picture of the men who remain at Guantánamo. Without names and details of cases where the administration claims it needs to detain individuals without charges or trial, it will continue to be impossible to have any meaningful public debate about the wisdom of such a policy.

The broad picture these documents paint is not of men “too dangerous to release” but of a government attempting to justify its mistakes and detaining, interrogating and abusing men – as well as teenage boys and men old enough to be suffering from dementia – for years based on bad evidence, hearsay from self interested jailhouse informers and sheer incompetence. The files show a breakdown in accountability for what was done to these men and a lack of transparency that continues to this day. They show that for more than nine years the government has been withholding information the public sorely needs in order to be able to make informed decisions about vital government policies. They also show that the press – itself a vital component of our democracy – must also do a better job of holding the government to account.

CCR has led the legal battle over Guantanamo for the last nine years – sending the first ever habeas attorney to the base and sending the first attorney to meet with an individual transferred from CIA “ghost detention” to Guantanamo. CCR has been responsible for organizing and coordinating hundreds of pro bono lawyers across the country to represent the men at Guantanamo, ensuring that nearly all have the option of legal representation. In addition, CCR has been working to resettle men who remain at Guantánamo because they cannot return to their country of origin for fear of persecution and torture.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

The Barack administration is no different than the Bush administration. Both fancy themselves above the law, both show no respect for the Constitution. There was no change from the unelected administration (Bush) to the elected one (Barack). In fact, it was a seamless continuation of administrations.

Yet some sickos are planning on voting for him in 2012. Because they want the US in more than four wars? Bush left with the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War going full blast. Though drone attacks were taking place, the drone war on Pakistan (which quickly became Af-Pak) and the Libyan War are Barack's.

Apparently some people will not be happy until we have double-digit wars.

This is madness and it needs to stop.

If you disagree, by all means consider voting for Barack. But if you agree and, especially, if you're one of those people who gripes because Congress votes for what's easy instead of for what's needed, then you better consider your own vote and ask if you're rubber stamping the destruction of democracy at home and the creation of endless chaos abroad?

I will not be voting for Barack Obama in 2012.

"TV: Why bad TV happens to good viewers" (Ava and C.I., The Third Estate Sunday Review):

"No Pretty Boys" continued to be a Reiser edict. And, as a result, you got Reiser in a main cast with five other people, four of which were adult males, none of which would be considered a possibility at last call no matter how many shots you did. Reiser and four men. And the network wasn't alarmed?

No. And they insisted that Mad About You needed tinkering after it aired (to beef up Jamie) and that was what was going on here. No, it wasn't what was going on at all. Though underestimated at her audition, Hunt was an incredibly strong actress (in comedy as well as drama) with a long list of credits (she once played Murray Slaughter's daughter on an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show). She was not going to be intimidated or thrown by much of anything.

Reiser didn't want that again. So for The Paul Reiser Show, he cast Amy Landecker as his wife, an actress who would best be termed as "emerging" and not one with a lot of background in comedy or much else. What was she? Twelve years younger than him. Very agreeable in read throughs when Reiser insisted one of her lines didn't work (strange, wasn't it, how at all the table reads, it was Claire's lines that didn't work). We don't know Landecker but a friend who worked on the show swore she was "very nice, too nice, and doesn't even realize what he [Reiser] is doing." What he was doing was keeping his promise to NBC that his sitcom would be a "couple's show" by casting Landecker and then ensuring that the scripts gave her little to do and ensuring that even that got whittled down.

The jokes were supposed to come from, Reiser insisted to any who listened, the fact that, when you have kids, you end up best friends with the parents of your kids' friends -- whether you want to or not. And this, Reiser insisted, not only happens but is universal. If his book output didn't make you question his grip on reality, that observation certainly would. And for many parents -- especially divorced parents -- there was nothing to relate to. (Single parents were never going to relate.) But there was Reiser running with a 'pack' of four other adult men. And we were all supposed to find it charming and cute and funny. Only we didn't, obviously.

We're told that the saddest scene already aired. It aired on Thursday. The script gave Landecker a solid laugh early on about the cat in the backyard that was keeping them up but Reiser weakened it and weakened it. And, after that was out, he further weakened the character. All you were left with was a drip. A drip on the phone to Reiser. A drip asking him to do this. A drip asking him to do that. And you were supposed to feel for Paul and root for Paul but, this being a character played by Paul Reiser, audiences couldn't relate.

Ava and C.I. analyze the tremendous flop that was The Paul Reiser Show. It tracks My Two Dads, Mad About You and Reiser's just cancelled program to explain it all in a way that only Ava and C.I. can. Don't miss it.

"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):

Monday, April 25, 2011. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces two deaths, protests continue in Iraq, Kurdish forces and the Iraqi military clash, a governor shuts down all government office today, and more. In Iraq, protests continued over the weekend. They continue today including in Basra and Um Qasr. Hardi Farukh died Saturday. AFP reports that Hardi was 28-years-old, worked at a publishing hosue and was engaged to be married but instead, on Saturday, became the tenth protestor to die in northern Iraq in the last weeks (Hardi died from wounds received when 'security' forces shot at protesters April 18th in Sulaimaniya). CPT's Michele Naar-Obed (Ekklesia) reports from the KRG: A new song was playing on Iraqi Kurdistan radio just before Easter, which included the lines, "Don't kill this generation" and "don't kill the future." While the song played, guns were blasting and tear gas filled the streets in both Suleimaniya and the KRG capital city, Hawler (Erbil). Day sixty-one of Suleimaniya's daily demonstrations against corruption in Iraqi Kurdistan started earlyon 18 April 2011. The Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) group arrived at 11:00. Music was playing from the stage and small groups of people were gathering. Two CPTers decided to use the quiet time to grab a cup of coffee and juice in a cafe next to the square. A few of the demonstration organizers were doing the same. Meanwhile armed soldiers, the anti-terrorism unit, and police were positioning themselves around the square., with guns, tear gas, water cannons, and riot gear. When the two CPTers and organizers left the cafe, a group of about twenty young men were talking about confronting the soldiers and police. Some were talking about throwing rocks. Others told us them that soldiers would throw the first round of rocks to provoke a fight. Still others told them that the government pays some of these young men to throw the first stones in order to provoke an escalation of violence. The organizers and CPTers gave an impromptu workshop on nonviolence. Some of the young men decided to stay in the square. Others were ready to confront the soldiers. One young man said he needed the money. Today, Jim Muir (BBC News -- link is video) provides an overview of the protests in Iraq. Jim Muir: It shouldn't be happening here but it is. This is Basra in the south [footage of protesters]. Iraq had its second free general election only last year. But that hasn't stopped trouble breaking out in almost all parts of the country. They've been particularly strong in Kurdistan in the north They've had free elections for nearly 20 years. But there's growing anger there against the two big Kurdish parties accused of corruption and repression. The capital of Baghdad has had its share of protests too against what some see as the emergence of a corrupt political elite which has failed to provide jobs and services to a growing number of young people. Yanaar Mohammed (Women's Freedom in Iraq): This is the democracy that we see in Iraq: arbitrary arrests, torture, beating, joblessness and they are drowning in a sea of money. $40 billion are totally lost. Nobody knows where it went from the financial budget while the widows are in this square -- the widows and the orphans of the war are startving. Jim Muir: Despite the fact that they went to the polls only last year to elect a new Parliament and government, people still feel the need to come here in their hundreds every week to voice their demands and press their greivances. There are small signs that the government may be at least going through the motions of paying attention to some of those demands. Prime Minister Maliki has said he won't stand for a third term in office in three year's time. He's also given government ministries a hundred days to shape up and meet government targets. He says he doesn't feel threatened by the protests. Nouri al-Maliki: The demonstrations here are different from the protests in other Arab countries. Here, they are about demands and services which we respect and try to meet if we can. We're not afraid of demands and demonstrations. In fact, we encourage them. Jim Muir: Ala Nabil would not agree. He's been detained by security men after demonstrations twice. Held for days and beaten for criticizing the prime minister. He says he's under constant surveilance. Ala Nabil: We have detentions, abductions from the street. We're thrown into secret prisons and some people just disappear and nobody knows where they are for months or years. People are afraid to talk. Just like under Saddam [Hussein]. Jim Muir: And so the protests continue. Not to get rid of the government, but to get it to live up to its promises and slogans. The message from Iraq is that even if someone else comes in and gets rid of your dictators, real democracy does not come easy. Jim Muir, BBC News, Baghdad. Nouri's comments about 'respect' are in direct contrast to his repeated characterization of the protesters as linked to "terrorism" and "Ba'athists." In the text version of the report, Muir notes that Firas Ali campaigned for Ala Nabil's release while he was imprisoned for eight days and that the response was for "armed security operatives" to seize Firas Ali from an NGO office and that Ala Nabil is attempting to get Firas released. The people of Mosul continue to demand a functioning government. Aswat al-Iraq reports, "An Iraqi Army force has surrounded al-Ahrar (Liberals) Square in central Mosul on Monday to prevent demonstrators from reaching the square the witnessed a sit-in demonstration over the past few days, a Ninewa security source said." They have attempted this throughout the month. Last Thursday, Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi had to break through the military barricade to join protesters -- and to clear a path for many others to follow him to the protests. Atheel al-Nujaifi is the brother of Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi. Protests continued in Mosul over the weekend. Saturday AFP reported, it was "the 15th day in a row" for Mosul protests and that "Tribal leaders and members of the provincial council joined more than 1,000 protesters who vowed to continue their rallies until US forces leave the country." DPA reminded that Friday security forces fired on protesters in Mosul killing at least 1 and leaving forty-four more wounded. Jamal al-Badrani (Reuters) reports, "Sunday, around 5,000 people, including provincial council members and tribal leaders, rallied in the main square against extending the U.S. troops presence beyond the year-end deadline." Aswat al-Iraq quoted a security source stating, "About 6,000 demonstrators have gathered in al-Ahrar Square on Sunday, calling on non-extension of the U.S. troops presences in Iraq, release of prisoners and carrying out reforms by the Iraqi government." And today? The Great Iraqi Revolution notes, "The large Kuridsh Herki Tribe joined the SIT-IN in Mosul this morning." And they reported, "It has just been confirmed that there are 2 martyrs not 3 [. . .] and there are 35 injured. Mosul has shut down completely and they are stating that they can wait it out. They are holding Maliki and his gang responsible for all of this and they are calling on all honourable Iraqis to start SIT-INS everywhere," "We have just heard that the number of martyrs has risen to 7 now. God Rest Their Souls," "In addition to our brothers Arkan Al Onaidi and Ghanem Al Abid, the following of our colleagues, friends and brothers have been injured: Khalid Juma Al Khaffaji, Haithem Al Jibourie, and Mohammed Al Qadhi amongst others," and "Ghannam's forces have shot a woman demonstrator." Ghannam is Nasser Al Ghannam who is the Iraqi Army's Second Division Chief. Nouri al-Maliki sent him to Mosul to oversee the assault on Iraqi civilians. Atheel al-Nujaifi is the governor of Nineveh. The Great Iraqi Revolution reports, ""Atheel Al Nujaifi has just stopped all work in all government offices as a statement against the tyrannical and unconstitutional acts that Maliki and Ghannam are carrying out." When the governor of a province takes such an action, it is news. Where's the western press? The Iraqi military are basically terrorizing the people of Mosul. The governor of the province has protested their actions and today called an end to work at all the government offices. Nick Turse (TomDispatch reposted by Al Jazeera) observes of the ongoing protests: The first months of this year have been grim for free speech in Iraq. As revolts swept across the Middle East and North Africa, they spread to Iraqi cities and towns, but took on a very different cast. In February, in places like Baghdad, Fallujah, Mosul and Tikrit, protesters took to the streets, intent on reform - focused on ending corruption and the chronic shortages of food, water, electricity and jobs - but not toppling the government of prime minister Nuri al-Maliki. The response by government security forces, who have arrested, beaten, and shot protesters, leaving hundreds dead or wounded, however, was similar to that of other autocratic rulers around the region. Attacks by Iraqi forces on freedom of the press, in the form of harassment, detention, and assaults on individual journalists, raids of radio stations, the offices of newspapers and press freedom groups have also shown the dark side of Maliki's regime. Many journalists have been prevented from covering protests or have curtailed their reporting in response to brutality, raising the spectre of a return to the days of Saddam Hussein's regime when press freedom was a fiction. Maliki's US allies, however, have turned a blind eye to the violence and repression, with the top spokesman for the US military in Iraq praising the same Iraqi units which eyewitnesses have identified as key players in the crackdown while ignoring the outrages attributed to them. A blind eye also appears to have been turned to corruption for many years now. New Sabah reports that the Iraqi Office of Financial Supervision has informed the US that they retain the right to file for compensation over "mismanagement" of Iraqi money by the Coalition Provisional Authority which ran things immediately after the start of the Iraq War. Questions remain on the Iraqi side about at least seven billion dollars. In other corruption news, Al Rafidayn reports that the Integrity Commission has announced that the ex-governor of Nineveh Province has received a sentence of two years in prison for embezzlement and corruption explaining that in January 0f 2007, he created a number of ficitional people who received monthly work payments for six months. Meanwhile Dar Addustour adds that the Integrity Commission also announced that they were investigating alleged corruption in muncipalities with some focus on the ration system cards and how they are administered locally. The Iraqi Parliament, Aswat al-Iraq reports, held a session today on human rights within a civil society. No word on whether Nouri attended though, goodness knows, he needed to. Insisting that the Parliament will have the last word, Aswat al-Iraq reports Speaker Osama al-Nujeify also confirmed that talks for a continued US military presence beyond 2011 is still being discussed within the government. Jonathan Steele (Guardian) observes, "As with so many elements of the geopolitical strategy he inherited from George Bush, Barack Obama has gone along with it. So it should be no surprise that Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chief of staffs, was in Baghdad on Friday urging the government to amend the agreement under which all US forces have to leave Iraq by the end of this year. Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, was in the Iraqi capital on a similar mission a few weeks earlier." (Note, Steele writes of the oil motives exposed by the Independent last week -- via a columnist, the news finally makes it into the Guardian.) Also noting Mullen's trip to Iraq is the editorial board of the Delaware County Times which applauds Mullen for talking publicly about the possibility US troops might remain in Iraq past 2011: "And if American forces remain in Iraq beyond the Dec. 31 deadline for withdrawal, it will be damaging for President Barack Obama, whose main campaign platform was ending America's involvement in the war." The Tehran Times reports that the Iranian "Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Kazim Husseini al-Haeri has issued a religious ruling forbidding the extension of the U.S. military presence in Iraq beyond December 2011." And as talks continue between the Iraqi and US governments over extending the SOFA, the Iranian government insists it is not involved. ISNA quotes Iran's Ambassdor to Iraq Hassan Danaei-Far stating, "No Iraqi delegation was dispatched to Iran by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for dialogues on extending the timetable of the US forces in Iraq. Iran has taken an entirely clear stance on the issue, we belive that foreign forces should leave Iraq and we believe that no foreign threat has been posed against Iraq. Iraqi policemen and army are able to run their own country." Iranian puppets like Moqtada al-Sadr have made their own noises. The Khaleej Times editorial board notes, "Already certain firebrand political leaders have warned against possible extension of American soldiers in the country." That refers to Moqtada al-Sadr. Moqtada appears prominently in the latest report for the US Congress. From Kenneth Katzman's [PDF format warning] "Iraq: Politics, Governance, and Human Rights:" As noted above, Sadr was part of the anti-Maliki Shiite coaltion (Iraqi National Alliance) for the March 2010 national elections. Sadr sees himself and his faction as the main spokesman for Iraq's Shiites, causing an inherent rivalry with Maliki and other more mainstream Shiite leaders in Iraq. [. . .] After the election, the Sadr faction was extensively involved in bargaining over composition of the government and, for the first six months after the election, took the stance that Maliki should be replaced by another shiite. However, the shift by the faction in late September 2010 was decisive in Maliki's success in achieving another term as prime minister. In return, as discussed above, Sadrists now hold several seats in the cabinet Maliki presented on December 21, 2010, and a Sadrist governor was later installed in Maysan Province, which includes the Sadrist stronghold of Amarah. The faction was energized when its leader, Moqtada Al Sadr himself, returned to Iraq on January 5, 2011. Upon his return, he gave a speech calling for a full implementation of a planned U.S. withdrawal by the end of 2011, and issued statements opposing the awarding of Iraqi energy contracts to American firms. He reportedly returned to Iran on January 22, 2011, but then re-entered Iraq in mid-February 2011, possibly in connection with the popular unrest [. . .]. While Sadr has long sought to higlight Maliki's failures to bolster his own influence, the Sadr faction's extensive participation in the post-2010 government complicates the Sadrist efforts to paint governmental failures as purely the fault of Maliki and other elites. Some U.S. officials say they believe the faction may have instigated some of the unrest to discredt Maliki. Meanwhile CNN noted Saturday that the US military has announced today that 2 US soldiers died in southern Iraq yesterday. Sunday, DoD released the following: "The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation New Dawn. They died of wounds suffered April 22, in Numaniyah, Iraq when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas. Killed were: 1st Lt. Omar J. Vazquez, 25, of Hamilton, N.J.; and Pfc. Antonio G. Stiggins, 25, of Rio Rancho, N.M. For more information media may contact Fort Hood public affairs at 254-287-0106." In some of today's reported violence . . . Bombings? Reuters notes a Hawija roadside bombing left one police officer injured and a Baghdad sticky bombing wounded two people. Shootings? Reuters notes armed clashes in Kirkuk between Kurdish security guards and Iraqi soldiers resulted in 1 Kurdish guard being killed and five more left injured. Quoting a source at Kirkuk Hospital, Aswat al-Iraq reports 2 Kurds were killed, not one. Corpses? Aswat al-Iraq reports 1 corpse was discovered in Baquba (shot in the head). Dropping back to yesterday, Prashant Rao (AFP) reports, "A roadside bomb explosion wounded four people, including two policemen, near a small church in the Iraqi capital on Easter Sunday, medical and security officials said. The bomb went off near the entrance of the Sacred Heart church, which is surrounded by concrete blast walls, near Tahriart Square in central Baghdad." BBC News reminds, "There were once about 1.5 million Christians in Iraq, but more than two-thirds are believed to have fled since the US-led invasion in 2003. Hundreds of families have also moved to the northern Kurdish region." Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) adds that two police officers and two bystanders were injured in the bombing. A number of Iraqi Christians remain in Baghdad though waves of targeting has caused many to leave. The most recent wave was kicked off October 31st with the assault on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad. Jane Arraf (McClatchy Newspapers, Christian Science Monitor) reported Saturday, "At Our Lady of Salvation, where gunmen and suicide bombers killed 52 worshippers and guards last October, the church was tightly locked, guarded by Iraqi police who said the doors would be opened only moments before the Saturday evening mass." Sally Jawdat (Al Mada) reports from Erbil on Easter in Kurdistan noting KRG President Masoud Barzani, KRG Parliament President Kamal Kirkuki and KRG Prime Minister Barham Salih offered their "congratulations and blessings." Al Mada also reports on Basra and speaks with Saher Ezzat who states that things are better in the KRG but are not what they were and that Christians ("especially women") cannot dress as they normally would. Another offers that Christians suffer the same problems in terms of security and freedom as other Iraqis. Linda Jalil states that Iraqi Christians have left the country in large number due to the lack of safety but that Basra is one of the safest provinces for Christians. Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan notes War Hawks get on TV while others are cast aside: I guess I must be a glutton for punishment because I just snapped off CiaNN in frustration and anger for about the 5000th time. Yesterday, I was treated to Candy ("I never met a warmonger I didn't love") Crowley fairly gushing with bloodlust over her three warmonger, kill Qaddafi, bomb the s**t out of the Libyan people, guests -- Republican Senators: Lindsey Graham (R-Closet); John McCain (R-Mordor) and Joseph Lieberman (R-Tel Aviv {okay, I know that Lieberman is technically an "I," but he out Republicans Ronald Reagan in every instance}). (Wow, even I got lost in that last round of parenthetical statements.) Anyway -- if one has an insatiable thirst for institutional violence on a massive and very extravagant scale -- like Miss Crowley -- then whom else would you have on your program to talk about the US/British/NATO war crimes in Libya? Certainly not Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney or Dennis Kucinich? Heck no, if one of us were interviewed on CiaNN, we may actually tell the truth about what's really happening in Libya and the tiny cat's paw of doubt may begin to creep into the minds of the average consumer of CiaNN's "All war, All the time," news-o-tainment. Lastly Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan and Peace of the Action are among those noting this upcoming event: For Immediate Release Cindy Sheehan, cindy@cindysheehanssoapbox.com Gregory Vickrey, gregory@gregoryvickrey.com, 202.487.1201 March, Strike, Occupation Set for Sacramento Vacaville, Calif. - Citizens and activists of all stripes plan to descend on Sacramento, Calif., May 9, 2011, for a prolonged strike and occupation of State Capitol grounds in response to budget proposals promoted by Governor Jerry Brown and California legislators. The strike and occupation will follow a march from numerous parts of the state to Sacramento beginning May 1, highlighted by a thematic mass march from San Francisco to the capital led by prominent peace activist Cindy Sheehan, national organization Peace of the Action, Bay Area Code Pink, California Alliance for Retired Americans, Peace & Freedom Party, Veterans for Peace chapters, and several other entities. To date, the action has been endorsed by more than 20 organizations around the globe representing a variety of fronts, including United Progressives, Canadians for Action on Climate Change, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, and the Arab American Union Members Council. Cindy Sheehan states, "The savage austerity measures proposed by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown are an attack on the vulnerable people of this state, and no amount of partisan politicking can hide that fact. Taxes should instead target California's 650,000 millionaire households. Cuts should include moneys the state hands over to the feds for shipping our California National Guard Units to foreign wars of aggression. Since 2001, the illegal wars of occupation have cost Californians almost 150 billion dollars and US military recruiters are still allowed to prey upon our most vulnerable youth on high school and college campuses--save our economy and lives by no longer supporting war!" The coalition of forces descending on Sacramento May 9 believes there is a better way to approach productive change for California and beyond. Those measures include steps to: Close Corporate Tax Loopholes & Incentives Fully Fund Education & Other Social Programs End State Funding for National Guard Units Leaving California Raise Taxes (Employ Austerity) on California's 650,000 Millionaire Households Employ Massive Prison Reform & Drastically Alter Criminalization Codes Bring Single-Payer Health Care for All to California Mandate and Create a Zero Carbon Economy to Mitigate Climate Change Bay Area Code Pink activist and march organizer Xan Joi adds, "We will not allow the budget to be 'balanced' by continuing tax breaks for the rich while depriving poor and vulnerable people our basic rights and needs." Peace of the Action's Gregory Vickrey concludes, "There are meaningful fixes for California's budget crisis. Governor Brown's budget proposal doesn't include a single one." iraq reuters jamal al-badrani afp al jazeera nick turse bbc news jim muir new sabah al rafidayn dar addustour michele naar-obed ekklesia press tv fars news agency the tehran times afp prashant rao bbc news cnn mohammed tawfeeq al mada sally jawdat the los angeles times richard s. serrano npr all things considered carrie johnson mcclatchy newspapers jane arraf the guardian jonathan steele the delaware county times

CCR's case and, yeah, she was right

I lied. Wednesday in "CCR," I promised that I would provide links to stories on the opening arguments Thursday (and I assumed but didn't state, on any witnesses today). I can't. I can't find a single news report on the case. I've tried searching by the judge's name, by the plantiffs and more.

This is really important case and I suspect immigration officials overstepped. The arguments are important and, of course, the verdict will be important. I assume CCR will do updates from time to time on this. But I'm not seeing any press on the case.

Vincent Warren wrote about the case earlier this month at Huffington Post. I know there's really not anything in the article that wasn't in the CCR alert I posted Wednesday. (Vincent Warren is executive director of CCR -- the Center for Constitutional Rights. Michael Ratner is president.)

Again, I assumed this would be a case that the media would cover. I was so wrong. Let me pull a C.I.: "My mistake, my apologies."

C.I.is forever apologizing. She's been that way her whole life. There was a joke that she probably woke upin the morning apologizing. But people who wrongly think she has a problem admitting she's wrong don't know her. C.I.'s problem is admitting she's right. You saw that this week if you paid attention. It's really past time for her to just state the obvious: "I was right." She was right. No one got the SOFA right except for her on the left. A few could have, but they were too scared and cowardly. For over two years, she told the truth about the SOFA and was attacked for it. She was called a liar and far worse for noting it was a contract (it is) and that it could be followed to the letter (it could) or it could be extended or replaced with something news. That last "or"? Are you not catching the news? That's what the US government is attempting right now. C.I. saw it.

At her lowest on this issue -- due to being attacked nonstop -- she made a comment that I love and that was closest to "I told you so" that she's gotten on this issue. I believe she made it in a 2009 snapshot. But it went something like, "It is a contract. If you can't understand that, why are you pontificating? Here's what let's do. Everyone who has broken a seven-figure contract with a corporation and walked away without facing litigation keep talking. What's that? Oh, it's just me." She has broken contracts and walked away without any law suit being filed against her. She knows contract law and if she wants out of a contract, she's always known how to get out of it -- more so than anyone who represented her.

Since Thanksgiving 2008, she has explained that the SOFA doesn't have to mean all US troops leave Iraq at the end of 2011. That's because it's a contract that can be extended or replaced. But people didn't want to listen. She tried everything to explain it. She went over it and over it. She was right. I'll say what she won't. She was exactly correct.

People should have listened. We gave two and a half years -- gave up as a nation -- that we could have spent calling for an end to the Iraq War. Instead we accepted the lie. (I know community members didn't, of course I didn't -- I know C.I. too well and too long to ever question her on a legal ruling or finding or contract when she's 100% firm on what it means.) (When she's not 100% firm? She'll call her attorney and get an opinion, she'll seek out input from her circle of friends which includes several retired and several sitting federal judges.)

By not listening, we allowed the Iraq War to continue. I think all the people who lied about the SOFA or got it wrong because they were stupid and knew not what they were talking about need to make a public apology.

"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):

Friday, April 22, 2011. Chaos and violence continue, the White House confirms talks are going on with Iraq re: US troops, protests continue in Iraq and continue to be largely ignored by the US media, and more. Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes (Wall St. Journal) report, "In Iraq, top U.S. military officials believe that leaving a sizeable force beyond this year could bolster Iraqi stability and serve as a check on Iran, the major American nemesis in the region, officials said. U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Israel have echoed the concern that if the U.S. pulls out completely, Iran could extend its influence." The two note that the talks have been regarding ten thousand US forces remaining in Iraq and that a big sticking point appears to be concern that US forces remaining on the ground past December 31, 2011 may feed into the discontent already gripping the region. The reporters note, "Thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets in recent months, demanding better basic services and an end to government corruption. Baghdad responded last week by imposing a ban on protests on the streets of the capital." Al Mada reports that Nouri al-Maliki insisted on Iraqi television that it's a "no" to a new security agreement (or an extension). Nouri's good about making those statements in public . . . and privately doing just the opposite. This may or may not be another example of that. Christopher Islam (CBS News) reports that Adm Mike Mullen stated today that if US forces are to remain beyond December 31, 2011, then the US will need to be planning "soon, very soon" and, Islam adds, "One senior Iraqi politician told CBS News that the Iraqi Security Forces are simply not ready to assume responsibility for security and that, in addition to the problems addressed by Mullen, they lacked sufficient command and control, surveillance and electronic counter-measures that have been instrumental in reducing the violence in the country during the past four years." Though some early reports today -- after Barnes and Entous' exclusive report -- insisted that there were no talks taking place on this issue, the White House confirmed that talks were underway. Nicholas Johnston (Bloomberg News) reports, "The U.S. is discussing with Iraq whether some U.S. troops will remain in the country to assist with security even though no requests for assistance have been made, White House press secretary Jay Carney said." Carney is quoted stated, "We are also in negotiations, discussions with the Iraqis about what their security needs are and will be in the future." Meanwhile Anne Johnson (WRAL) reports that next month Fort Bragg's 83nd Airborne Division deploys members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team to Iraq. It's Friday, protests continue in Iraq. The Great Iraqi Revolution notes, "A party from the Union of Fallujah Lawyers led by their Secretary General, Saeed Al - Fallahi have arrived in Ahrar." That's Ahrar Square in Mosul and click here for some photos of that protest. And they note, "My freinds, it seems that in spite of all the killing the demonstrators are still arriving in Ahrar and there are now over 100,000 people there!" and "Sahar Al Mawssawi is speaking live now - she is in Al Ahrar and describing the scene - she says that the numbers of troops sent from Baghdad are even more than the number of American troops when they first invaded Iraq - she says that they do not understand why the government is so frightened of peaceful unarmed demonstrators - she also says that they want the Occupation OUT and that anyone who asks for them to stay should be expelled. She also says that they hold the Al Iraqiya Satellite station responsible for all the disappearances from Tahrir Square." The Great Iraqi Revolution reports, "Al Hurra Al Iraqiya spoke live to us, a few minutes ago, telling us how the women of Mosul were forced to walk through lakes of cess with their children to discourage them from going to Ahrar, this morning, but to these criminals' surprise, the women pressed on and got to Ah,rar! She continued saying they have forcd us to turn into ferocious animals for our rights and for our country." Ghannam's cronies attacked "a group of young men in Al Noor District," "Thousands of young revolutionaries at the 4th Bridge being attacked by Ghannam's troops and being barred from proceeding to Ahrar" and they "raided Shaikh Barzan Al Badrani's home in an attempt to arrest him, today, but failed to do so!" In addition, "largest Turkeman Tribe, al Lehaie Beq have joined the Vigil!" And they report: Al Ahrar was joined by a large contingent of supporters from all of Baghdad's districts including the Thawra and in The Tahrir, Baghdad they were singing and chanting "from Baghdad to Mosul". Tahrir was sad as well as wonderful - sad and tragic - a mother with three missing lovely young men crying her eyes and heart out - a sister ...with five missing brothers who was lucky enough to have located one of her brothers in one of the prisons through the Rafidain Satellite Station - young men - young industrialists - it was awful - exhausting - they just want to get rid of the occupation and Maliki and his gang. They are no longer interested in electricity or food or employment - gthey just want him out and they want their men and women out of the secret prisons - a third and a fourth - all mothers and sisters - terrible..... terrible..... Listen to them - My God! when is this hell going to end for Iraqis????? DPA reports, "Iraqi police and military forces fired shots in the air to disperse hundreds of people in a northern Iraqi city who gathered Friday to protest against the US presence in the country, witnesses said." In addition, they note that protesters were out in Baghdad including women carrying photos of their loved ones who've disappeared into the Iraqi 'justice' system. Dar Addustour reports on the protest in Baghdad today and banners calling for the release of detainees, improved public services, an end to corruption and an end to the US occupation of Iraq. Today Human Rights Watch issued an alert about the ongoing crackdown on protesters in Iraq and this is the section on Baghdad: Iraqi security forces in Baghdad are detaining and abusing activists in connection with protests against the chronic lack of basic services and perceived widespread corruption. On April 8, security forces in a vehicle with markings from the 43rd Brigade of the Army's 11th Division, arrested Nabil at the end of a peaceful protest at Tahrir Square. He was immediately transferred to other security forces in civilian clothing, and held for a week. Released on April 15, Nabil, an organizer of the February 25 Group - one of several groups planning demonstrations in the capital - told Human Rights Watch that he had been beaten repeatedly while his hands were held behind his back with plastic zip-ties, and often while blindfolded. He said his captors also used a stun gun on his arms, chest, and back. "I heard them giving orders to shock us and hit us only below the neck, so there wouldn't be any marks. They shocked me and hit me on the arms and back and chest," he said. "I got a cut on my head that was bleeding, and one of the guards yelled at another who caused it. 'Why did you make him bleed? He is a son of a bitch and will make a scandal for us. Do not leave any marks. Hit him in places where there will be no marks.'" Nabil said his captors went through his cell phone and told him, "We know all these numbers, and we are watching and listening to all your calls.'" Nabil had previously been arrested on March 22, and Human Rights Watch witnessed signs of physical abuse immediately after his release from that detention. Human Rights Watch sent inquiries about Nabil's arrest and others to the offices of the prime minister and security officials but has received no response from authorities. On April 13, security forces entered the adjoining offices of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) and the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), where the February 25 Group has held meetings in Baghdad. The security forces arrested one of the group's members, Firas Ali, who has peacefully participated in several of the Tahrir Square demonstrations. A protester detained in early April for taking part in demonstrations at Tahrir Square told Human Rights Watch upon his release that he saw Ali inside a prison in Baghdad's Old Muthanna Airport. The witness said Ali was being held with more than two dozen protesters, 20 of whom were detained on the day of the April 15 demonstration. Human Rights Watch is also concerned about Haydar Shihab Ahmad, also from the February 25 Group, who has been missing since April 1, just after taking part in that day's demonstration in Baghdad's Tahrir Square. Members of his family told Human Rights Watch that they have made several inquiries at prisons in Baghdad in unsuccessful attempts to locate him, and have received no official reply about whether he has been detained. "Iraqi authorities need to release any peaceful protester held incommunicado and without charge, and account for those it is charging with a criminal offense," Stork said. Iraqi authorities have taken several steps to eliminate protests in the capital from public view. On April 13, officials issued new regulations barring street protests and allowing them only at three soccer stadiums. "We have specified Al-Shaab, Kashafa and Zawraa stadiums as permitted sites for demonstrations in Baghdad instead of Ferdus or Tahrir squares," Baghdad's security spokesman, Major General Qassim Atta, said at a news conference televised by the state broadcaster, Iraqiyya TV. "Many shop owners and street vendors have called us and complained to us because demonstrations have affected their work and the movement of traffic." In late February, Iraqi police allowed dozens of assailants to beat and stab peaceful protesters in Baghdad. In the early hours of February 21, dozens of men, some wielding knives and clubs, attacked about 50 protesters who had set up two tents in Tahrir Square. During nationwide February 25 protests, security forces killed at least 12 protesters across the country and injured more than 100. On that day, Human Rights Watch observed Baghdad security forces beating unarmed journalists and protesters, smashing cameras, and confiscating memory cards. Mosul and Baghdad are only some of the areas protesting continue in. David Ignatius (Washington Post) explains, the KRG (northern Iraq) is also seeing continued protests: Kurdish leaders, facing popular protest against corrupt and undemocratic government in Iraqi Kurdistan, on Wednesday turned to Baghdad for help in quelling demonstrations that have rocked the Kurdish capital of Sulaymaniyah. Jalal Talabani, the president of Iraq and also head of the old-line Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, is said to have requested help from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki; a source in Sulaymaniyah said that Talabani depends on a 3,000-man "security force" that is largely Arab. The Sulaymaniyah source said that when Talabani appeared there Monday in an effort to calm demonstrators, protesters began chanting: "Mu-bar-ak, Mu-bar-ak," in a reference to the deposed Egyptian president. Talabani's colleague in the PUK, Burham Salih, this week reportedly offered to resign as president of Iraqi Kurdistan to halt the protests. "There have been mafia-style practices used against the free media in the region," said Salih's letter in an unusually blunt criticism of the Kurdish leadership, according to Agence France-Presse. The AFP said 95 people were wounded in clashes between police and security forces in Sulaymaniyah Sunday and Monday, and seven more on Tuesday. Mohideen Mifthah (AFP via Sri Lanka Sunday Times) notes that the "near-daily demonstrations" in the region are contributing to the creation of a new image for the KRG. Mifthah also notes, "A poll conducted by the Washington-based International Republican Institute in December offered hints for the causes behind the anger in Sulaimaniyah. Some 62% of respondents in Sulaimaniyah said Kurdish MPs were not listening to their needs, and 35% said the economic situation in Kurdistan was either 'somewhat bad' or 'very bad,' both of which were the highest in the region." Frank Smyth (Committee to Protect Journalism) observes: [. . .] in recent months more than 150 Iraqi Kurdish journalists have been injured or attacked, according to the local Metro Center to Defend Journalists. One journalist was murdered three years ago in Kirkuk after uncovering evidence of government corruption. But most of the journalists who find themselves more recently under siege have been covering violent clashes between the Kurdish security forces and protestors in Sulaymaniyah. This rise in attacks against the press was the backdrop for the conference, aptly named "Safety for Press is Safety for All" and held Thursday in the Kurdish capital of Arbil. Sponsored by the non-governmental Independent Media Centre for Kurdistan, the conference brought together dozens of journalists, along with Iraqi Kurdish government officials such as the minister of culture and a number of mid-level police and security force commanders. I was asked to give a global perspective on how the situation for the press here compares with other parts of the world before we began discussing the issues along with possible solutions. One thing that united everyone in the room and that unites almost everyone in Iraqi Kurdistan is the Kurdish-speaking population's long struggle for autonomy. The pesh merga or "those who die together" armed militias continue to dominate Kurdistan today after having fought for decades as guerrilla groups against various Iraqi governments based in Baghdad. Among the movement's most revered events is the "intifada" or attempted "shaking off" of Saddam Hussein's regime in 1991 after the Gulf War. Thousands were killed and far more became refugees after the attempted overthrow failed. The conference came at a time when the KRG was receiving more and more criticism. Ibrahim Alsragey tweeted this week, "Demanded the Iraqi Association for Defending the rights of journalists, on Tuesday, Iraqi Council of Representatives to take immediate action to stop violence against journalists in Kurdistan." Human Rights Watch's alert today also covered the KRG: In the afternoon of April 18 in Arbil, the Kurdistan capital, dozens of armed men in civilian clothes attacked students from the Kurdistan region's largest university, Salahadin, as they tried to hold a demonstration. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that the assailants also attacked journalists and at least one member of parliament. A third-year Salahadin student told Human Rights Watch that a large group of organized assailants wearing civilian clothes attacked the protesters with brute force. "We chanted 'freedom, freedom,' and then security forces came and abolished the demonstration," the student said. "They were hitting people by knives and sticks ... and arrested 23 protesters." The assailants beat Muhamad Kyani, a member of the Iraqi national parliament for the opposition party Goran (Change) List, and his bodyguard while they were walking away from the demonstration. "There was no violence from us, nothing happened from our side to incite them," Kyani told Human Rights Watch. "I was on my way to the car when the Asayish [the official security agency for the Kurdistan region] threw me to the ground and started to kick and beat me." Kyani had two black eyes and other minor injuries from the beating. "They just wanted to intimidate and insult me and those with me," he said. "During the beating they swore at us and called me a traitor." Reporters without Borders documented attacks on at least 10 journalists covering the April 18 protest. The group said assailants also detained numerous journalists, including Awara Hamid of the newspaper Rozhnam, Bahman Omer of Civil Magazine, Hajar Anwar, bureau chief of the Kurdistan News Network, and Mariwan Mala Hassan, a KNN reporter, as well as two of the station's cameramen. Shwan Sidiq of Civil Magazine was hospitalized after the assailants broke his hand. "My hand is broken, my head still hurts," he told Human Rights Watch. "What I saw was what in 1988 Saddam Hussein did against me and my family." Security forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government and the two ruling parties there, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, have used repressive measures against journalists since the start of the protests in Iraq on February 17. The local press freedom group Metro Center has documented more than 150 cases of attacks and harassment of Kurdish journalists since February 17. In March, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 20 journalists covering the protests in Kurdistan. "Time and again we found that security forces and their proxies violate journalists' freedom of expression through death threats, arbitrary arrests, beatings, harassment, and by confiscating and vandalizing their equipment," Stork said. In Sulaimaniya, daily clashes since April 17 have injured more than 100 protesters, journalists, and security forces. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that on April 17 security forces fired live ammunition into the air to clear protesters blocking a road, while others shot into the crowd indiscriminately, wounding at least seven demonstrators. "Police and security forces used everything to attack us," one protester told Human Rights Watch. "They opened fire, threw stones, used sticks and their Kalashnikovs to keep us from demonstrating." Protest organizers told Human Rights Watch that on April 18, security forces violently seized control of Sara Square, the center of daily protests in Sulaimaniya since February 17, and demolished the protesters' podium. Security forces have fanned out across the city and have refused to allow protesters back to the site - renamed Azadi (Freedom) Square by demonstrators - resulting in clashes on April 18 and 19. From the Great Iraqi Revolution, we're noting this exchange: Ahmad H Al-Shaibani There is an obvious "blackout" in mainstream media and press on the freedom movement and revolution in Iraq. Even AlJazeera is shying away from giving true coverage of the events. Help break this scandelous silence . Support our sisters and brothers who are risking their lives for a truly free Iraq. Spread the word... Iraqis want to be free of the US imported and Iranian fostered "Democracy". Lamya Källner where are the media? there is not one news channel wicht reports abut that.. wehre is the world.. Where is the world media? Not Al Jazeera of course. This week, the network gave us a lovely -- and I mean that with all the sarcasm I can muster -- report on the rowing team which can only row in Baghdad but that was kind of glossed over, wasn't it? But Al Jazeera isn't interested in the Iraqi protests. That comes from a British friend with the network. He told me Inside Iraq was about to be killed -- and it was -- because Nouri didn't care for it. Nouri was far from the only one complaining. His opinion mattered though -- for the same reason that the protests are down played. Al Jazeera wanted back into Iraq. So when Nouri complained, the decision was made to kill the program. Jasim al-Azzawi was not on vacation during the weeks after the decision was made when guest hosts filled in. If he were on vacation, he wouldn't have been writing all of those columns in the Arab media (a number of which we highlighted here in real time). The network was 'kind' enough to allow Jasim to return for the last episode of his show. And then Nouri got the only program Al Jazeera needed to air cancelled. Does anyone really believe the "America, what a freak show!" program (if you watch Al Jazeera, you know the one I'm talking about) is needed? Hell no. That program's a joke turning blips on the radar in the US into 'major trends'. And don't you find it strange that when Jasim's show was killed, with all the events going on in Iraq, only Riz managed to show any interest and not any sustained interest. It's because the network suits made the deal to get Al Jazeera back in Iraq. Al Jazeera had a troubled time in Iraq and was almost thrown out in April 2003. It managed to hand onto its Baghdad office until August 7, 2004 at which point, then-prime minister Ayad Allawi announced in a press conference that the Baghdad office was being closed because 'an independent commission' had monitored the coverage from Al Jazeera and found bias and coverage that would 'incite.' (Hoshyar Zebari, the country's Foreign Minister since 2006 and it's interim foreign minister before that, began calling for its closure publicly in the summer of 2004.) After six years of dialogue and many concessions on the part of Al Jazeera, last March Al Jazeera was finally again allowed to reopen the Baghdad bureau. And I'm not critizing the correspondents. I'm talking about the deal made by the executives. CNN correspondents, for example, weren't happy before the start of the illegal war with the deal CNN crafted to have a Baghdad office. And, of course, after the war started, Eason Jordan confessed from the op-ed pages of the New York Times in a column entitled "The News We Kept To Oursevles." That April 11, 2003 piece opened: "Over the last dozen years I made 13 trips to Baghdad to lobby the government to keep CNN's Baghdad bureau open and to arrange interviews with Iraqi leaders. Each time I visited, I became more distressed by what I saw and heard -- awful things that could not be reported because doing so would have jeopardized the lives of Iraqis, particularly those on our Baghdad staff." So, Jordan wrote, they couldn't report on torture and targeted murders -- although he did call King Hussein of Jordan to warn him his life was in danger. If you were royalty, you got a warning. Sadly, lower down the rung you got no warning and you got no coverage. He concluded with, "I felt awful having these stories bottled up inside me. Now that Saddam Hussein's regime is gone, I suspect we will hear many, many more gut-wrenching tales from Iraqis about the decades of torment. At last, these stories can be told freely." And Eason is right. Today any story about Hussein's corruption or torture or any other crimes can be freely discussed by the media. However, Iraqis wanting to discuss what they're experiencing under Nouri al-Maliki or Massoud Barzani are finding they can talk all they want but the western media isn't going to cover it. Maybe in twenty years, after another illegal war, a new Eason will emerge? Or maybe we should say "a new Mohammed Jassem al-Ali"? That was the Al Jazeera chief executive, a few may remember, who had to step down from his post in May of 2003 when rumors -- coming from Ahmed Chalabi -- tied three Al Jazeera correspondents with the role of spinning for Saddam Hussein's government as official Al Jazeera policy under the orders of Mohammed Jassem al-Ali. Al Jazeera denied the rumors. But they did force al-Ali's resignation. Kim Sengupta filed an even handed report on the entire matter for the Independent of London. The NewsHour (PBS) devoted a segment to the controversy that followed Eason Jordan's column confessions and Franklin Foer offered, "Well it was certainly startling to hear Eason Jordan's admission that CNN had sat on some pretty major stories, stories of torture, murder, assassination plots, but I argued that this was merely symptomatic of a larger problem that western media has in covering dictatorships. In a place like Iraq in order to get your cameras in central locales, in order to get your reporters on the ground, you need to make incredible compromises to the government. You need to subject yourself to constant surveillance by government minders who . . . you need to negotiate with the information ministry to even obtain permission to shoot your camera at a specific angle." Or as George Michael once put it, much more succinctly and much more rhythmically, "There's little things you hide, and little things that you show, sometimes you think you're going to get it but you don't and that's just the way it goes." Thug Nouri never tires of power-grabs. Al Mada reports Nazem Ferman Al Abboudi is out and Mohssen Rissan is in as the head of the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal. Nouri fired Abboudi. At issue is said to be 50 Land Cruisers which were purchased for twice the sticker price. In today's violence, Reuters notes a burnt corpse was discovered in Kirkuk and that late yesterday a Ramadi roadside bombing claimed the lives of 3 police officers with two more injured. Aswat al-Iraq reports a Sahwa shot dead another Sahwa late yesterday in Kirkuk and an 11-year-old boy was kidnapped in Kirkuk yesterday. Catholic Culture notes that Pope Benedict has taped a radio and TV special for Good Friday, to air on Vatican Radio, in which he takes questions "from listeners all around the world". BBC News adds, "Those selected to put their question include an Italian mother whose son was in a coma for many years and a young Japanese girl affected by the recent devastating earthquake and tsunami. Others reportedly putting questions include seven Christian students in Iraq and a Muslim mother from the conflict-torn Ivory Coast." Rachel Donadio (New York Times) reports, "In the television question-and-answer session on Friday, the pope urged Christians in wartorn Iraq 'to resist the temptation to emigrate, which is very understandable in the conditions they are living in'." Yesterday's snapshot noted multiple instances of my disagreeing with Gareth Porter's take on Iraq. Cleary, (see opening paragraphs including White House confirmation), Gareth was wrong about the SOFA. In terms of Moqtada al-Sadr, we disagree. Gareth sees him as powerful and unstoppable. And I noted he does what Iran tells him to do with a long list of examples provided of Moqtada making a statement and then caving. Gareth may be right on Moqtada and I may be wrong (or we could be both be wrong). But an e-mail defending Gareth argued that if Moqtada does Iran's bidding (my assertion, not Gareth's) that would mean if US forces stayed on the ground in Iraq because of a deal Nouri made, Moqtada would go after Nouri with Iran's prompting. Possibly. I don't happen to agree with that. I feel that the US government has repeatedly used the Iranian government and the Iranian government has repeatedly used the US government. They're kind of like the Democratic and Republican parties. If the US leaves, Iran faces full on wrath. Now some Iraqis can be glad for Iran's influence. By the same token some are glad for the US influence (occupation) but when the US leaves (and it will leave at some point -- whether that's the start of 2012 or years from now), Iran will face more anger than it does currently. Both the US and Iran play their games with Iraq and benefit from one another. My opinion. (Among the benefits? Both sides repeatedly having the opportunity to bash and demonize the other. Often those speeches seem less for Iraqi audiences or even international ones and purely for domestic consumption in the US or Iran.) Roshanank Taghavi (Time magazine) reports today on Iran's complicated relationship with its neighbor: Iran has counted on the shortage of Iraqi oil production as a buffer against potential sanctions on purchases of Iranian crude, says the Tehran-based analyst. Although Iraq is currently excluded from OPEC's quota system, Iranian oil officials admit they are worried that the resurgence of its historical rival will affect Tehran's standing within the organization. (Baghdad and Tehran clashed over OPEC production targets before Iran's 1979 revolution and during the 1980s, when the two countries were engaged in an eight-year war.) While Iran has increased influence in Baghdad nowadays because of the country's Shi'ite-dominated government, that is not likely to diminish Iraq's determination to rehabilitate its war-hobbled petroleum industry. The continued rise of Iraq's production capacity could, in the wake of an oil glut and international economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic, endanger Iran's standing as OPEC's second largest oil exporter. Already Iran has lost some of its market share to Iraq, which has better technology and can offer lower prices for similar grades of crude. "Some of Iraq's customers came to us after it occupied Kuwait and again in 2003 after Saddam Hussein fell with the U.S. invasion," says an official from Iran's national oil company, speaking from Tehran on condition of anonymity. "Now, because of Iran's political situation and difficulties with sanctions, those customers are going back to Iraq." Lastly, Mohamed ElBaradei has a new book entitled The Age of Deception which comes out on Tuesday. And a large number of people are going to be aware of the book by the former UN chief nuclear inspector because, in the book, AP reports, he offers "that Bush administration officials should face international crime investigation for the shame of a needless war." TV note, Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes: Mount Athos Bob Simon steps back in time when he gets rare access to monks in ancient monasteries on a remote Greek peninsula who have lived a Spartan life of prayer in a tradition virtually unchanged for a thousand years. Cameras capture the monastic life, including chanting, prayers, rituals, and the priceless relics and icons from the Byzantine Empire stored on "The Holy Mountain," Mt. Athos. (This is a double-length segment.) | Watch Video The Billionaire Eli Broad sets the standard for philanthropy. He's given away over $2 billion and plans on leaving even more to charity before he dies. But along with the billionaire's name that most projects he funds must take, his advice and oftentimes his control are usually part of the deal. Morley Safer reports. | Watch Video "60 Minutes," Sunday, April 24, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. iraq the wall st. journal adam entous julian e. barnes al mada al rafidayn the new york times tim arango catholic culture bbc news the washington post david ignatius mohiddeen mifthah the committee to protect journalists cbs 60 minutes